Crunchyroll has rolled out a new video player for select users in territories, including Brazil and Colombia, in addition to streaming new anime with hard subs (subtitles). It’s unclear whether the new player and hard-subbed anime is a test, what the scope of this test would be, or whether this is the first step in a broader rollout. Anime Corner has contacted Crunchyroll for comment.
Hard subtitles (also known as hard-coded subtitles) are those that can’t be removed from a video, as they are burned into the video itself. Soft subs/subtitles are separate from the video and are written in a file that is loaded and displayed on top of the video. Soft subtitles can be switched out (for different languages and customizations) and, on some platforms, disabled. (Although Crunchyroll removed this feature a while back.)
Why are hard subs divisive:
- Hard subtitles can’t be customized, which harms accessibility (some may want a bigger/smaller font size or a more suitable color/contrast).
- As hard subs are part of the video itself, switching subtitles means reloading a new video, as users in Brazil and Colombia have stated is the case.
- As hard subs are part of the video itself, it’s longer to fix mistakes. Soft subs merely require a quick file update.
- Difficult to share screenshots.
- If the Internet connection drops, the subtitles drop in quality alongside the video, as a Crunchyroll user in Colombia has stated. An example is below. (The top image is higher quality, while the middle and bottom are lower; all zoomed in equally for clear demonstration.)
The above were all zoomed equally for clearer comparison. The originals are below.
Images of Crunchyroll’s new video player are below (Colombia):
An X (formerly Twitter) user in Brazil shows Crunchyroll’s new video player:
In 2024, Anime Feminist’s article Crunchyroll fails to meet industry standards for Closed Captioning found issues with the streamer’s accessibility commitments, with only a small and inconsistent selection of titles closed-captioned. Following Crunchyroll and Funimation’s merger, Sony told Anime News Network that closed captions support was a priority. Following perceived slow progress, Anime Feminist made inquiries to Crunchyroll in March 2024 but said it received no responses from official representatives, only from support staff.
I contacted Crunchyroll in May 2024, referencing many points raised in Anime Feminist’s article. Despite a Crunchyroll representative saying they would look into it, nothing ever materialized.
These latest changes to Crunchyroll’s viewing experience follow a period late last year when the streamer’s typesetting quality declined significantly, provoking strong user backlash. The typsetting quality has improved since.
In other accessibility news, the UK recently designated all streaming services with over 500,000 UK users as subject to its new streaming regulations, which are expected to come into effect in 2027. These regulations will require platforms to ensure at least 80% of their total catalogue is subtitled, 10% is audio-described, and 5% is signed. Given that the UK is among Crunchyroll’s top 10 markets, it is expected to be affected, but it did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
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